Page 16 of Her Alien Mercenaries
“Fraxx off.”He sent the message without looking at hisanrik. He knew the smug male would be trying to hide a smirk but probably failing at it.
Jenna looked up at him with soft brown eyes. “I will treasure the memory of that first flight forever. You showed me Haven from a new perspective, all from the safety of your arms.”
“And we’ll fly again soon. Very soon, in fact. Come here, Jenna. It’s time we took you home.”
Zanyr nodded. “I’ll fly cover. But first, I need to kiss our mate again.”
Watching hisanriksweep their mate into his arms was something he’d imagined hundreds of times, but the reality was far more satisfying. She smiled and went to Zanyr with a shy eagerness that melted Torren’s heart. A sense of tenderness coupled with a powerful urge to nurture and protect his mate bloomed like a flame in the darkest hour of the night.
So this was thesharhal. No one had warned him that the sudden rush of desire wasn’t the strangest or the strongest element of the mating fever. It was the sense of soaring on an unseen wind so powerful he couldn’t break free. All he could do was hang on and see where it took him.
He watched and waited for Jenna to finish her kiss with Zanyr before she returned to his side. Wherever this wind would take him, they’d make the journey together.
7
Flyingin the rain wasn’t nearly as much fun as she’d hoped. In fact, it sucked harder than a black hole. The weather caught up to them long before they made it back to Haven, drenching all three of them. Water streamed down her face, half-blinding her. She quickly gave up trying to see anything and buried her face in the crook of Torren’s shoulder to avoid the worst of the wind.
Zanyr flew above and slightly ahead of them, so close it seemed as if she could reach out and touch him. Flying cover, he’d called it. She’d wondered what that meant, and now she knew. He was using his body to shield them from the weather.
When they neared the colony, Torren squeezed her shoulders to get her attention.
“Where?” he asked, his voice raised to be heard over the wind.
She wiped a fresh spray of rain from her eyes and looked around, trying to get her bearings from this new vantage point. It took her longer than she liked to find a landmark she recognized, but eventually she found her house.
“There.” She pointed. “The one with the diamond on the roof.”
That’s when she noticed that every home had a different design, clearly visible from the air. It made sense, but it was one more detail she hadn’t known about her new home. There was so much she needed to learn.
She thought they’d land on the roof, but they landed on the street near the gate to her home. As they touched down, one of her neighbors paused at their window to scowl at them. Jenna flinched, surprised by the hostility in the female’s expression. Tani hadn’t been overly friendly in the short time she’d lived here, but now she looked furious… and disgusted.
Torren growled, pivoting as he spread his wings to shield her from Tani’s glare. “Ignore her.”
“She’s my neighbor. Ignoring her isn’t going to be easy. Do you think this will happen often?” She knew about theLiq’za. They’d been briefed more than once on the faction of Vardarian society who believed that their species was superior to all others. They advocated for traditional values and racial purity. Haven colony was founded to escape those concepts, but somehow the ideas had made their way here, and lately, they seemed to have taken root.
No one knew how it had happened or who was behind the infiltration, but Jenna had heard the gossip. Some said it was Prince Tyran’s sister, Empress Neha, who was still stung that her brother had broken away to start his own colony. Others whispered that it was not Neha but a rogue faction of her court who were trying to destroy the colony before others decided to follow suit. Jenna had read enough history, both Vardarian and human, to come up with her own theory. She didn’t think theLiq’zahad any long-term goals or a proper agenda. Some would be like-minded; others would only agree in the broadest of terms. Anger was the fuel that kept the fire burning, and fear fanned the flames.
“It won’t happen at all. Not if I have anything to say about it,” Zanyr stated, his words edged with ice. He turned to face Tani’s house and then raised his voice loudly enough to be sure she and everyone else around heard. “As it happens, I’m part of the leadership council, so Idohave a say. It’s time to send a message to these beings. Haven was founded to be a place of acceptance and community. If they don’t value those things, they are free to leave. Immediately.”
Torren leaned down to nuzzle her hair as he whispered, “Zan tends to be dramatic sometimes, but he means every word. Your neighbor has been warned. If she gives you so much as a sideways glance, you tell us and we’ll handle it.”
She leaned into Torren and nodded once. “I doubt she’ll do anything else. I’m sorry she feels that way, though. I don’t understand why someone would join the colony if they didn’t want to be around other species.”
“Neither do I, blossom. We need to remind everyone that we came here to make a fresh start, somewhere that everyone is welcome.”
“Hopefully they’ll remember. But what if they don’t?”
“Bluster and dramatic poses aside, Zanyr is right. If they can’t accept the way things are done here, they need to leave.”
The idea didn’t give her a good feeling, but neither did knowing she lived beside someone who disapproved of her for no good reason.
Zanyr must have sensed her thoughts because he took her hand and squeezed it gently. “Sometimes a farmer has to cut away a blighted part of a plant to save it. If they don’t intervene, the rot will work its way to the root. Haven’s still a young colony. If we don’t take care of it now, it won’t thrive the way it could have.”
“I know, and I get it. But couldn’t Tani and the ones who think like her say the same thing?”
“They could.” Zanyr scowled. “Hell, they probably do, but only among themselves. If they had legitimate concerns about something, they could bring them to the council or advocate for change. No one has done that. They just whisper to each other in the shadows. Nothing good can grow in those conditions.”
Torren chuckled and shook his wings hard enough to splatter Zanyr with water. “Agricultural metaphors. Really? That’s the best you could do?”
